


First Date

by Grotesque (Grotesque_Flower)



Series: The Misadventures of Bambi [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Monster Falls, Cervitaur!Dipper Pines, Deer!Dipper Pines, Deerper, First Dates, Humanoid!Bill Cipher, M/M, Monster Falls AU, awkward so awkward, cervitaur!dipper, deer!dipper, doe!mabel, humanoid!Bill, monster falls, so much anxiety poor dip, sorry buds its... this is dumb, still a demon Bill, this has been sitting on my computer since june i just wanted to get it off of it finally
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 20:38:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6255022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grotesque_Flower/pseuds/Grotesque
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Can you call it a date if the other doesn't know it is one?</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Date

**Author's Note:**

> A/N : Do you ever hate yourself so much??

Bill and Dipper had an… Interesting relationship to say the least. If you were to ask how exactly they went from Dipper screaming versus in a tongue he didn’t care to truly learn as  Bill cackled loud enough that it could shattered the current universe while bright blue flames ate his hands up with his three eyes glowing a bright blue with angered red rings on the outer edges. To their current platonic relationship that involved the demon tagging along with the cervitaur on his forest adventures, usually chatting away as he lounged on the younger’s deer portioned back and then adding small random paranormal facts here and there, Dipper writing them down in hurried short hand on a small notebook he toted around instead of the journal when Bill was around. It’d probably stump the two a bit, racking their minds to try and connect the pieces to make sense of it all.

Out of it all, the current feelings Dipper held towards the demon had slowly began making themselves known to the mortal. He could admit that they had been there for a while by now, but it wasn’t until he and Bill were spending a day together in the forest. Visiting the Devil’s Circle Bill had showed him a short time back, Dipper had wanted to know more about it. Know where the objects thrown in the circle of dead grass disappeared to, why nothing grew around it and why every living thing inside of the circle was dead. Bill happily totted along with him and Dipper allowed him, scribbling down notes on the blue lined paper about the weird sounds and senses. It was when he took notice of how the demon was having fun. Actual fun that didn’t involve annoying him in any way. The younger’s notes turned less from the circle itself, to the demon. Writing without notice about how the demon laughed happily over the grotesque mangled mess of a goat’s skeleton, how his eyes glowed a gold hue almost. How that when he was like this it was so easy to forget _who_ he was. _What he was._ How human he looked. And in that moment his feelings hit him in the face with a hard realization, he blamed the sheer force of it as to why his face was a faint red. He only hoped that Bill was too distracted to take notice of his thoughts to try and pry, once composing himself he went back to taking actual notes once again. Though his notes did still contain small details about the demon.

* * *

 

“Dipper we’ve been at the library forever, come on,” Mabel whined loudly as she laid her upper body over the table as her sibling continued to read the spines of the many, many, many arrangement of books. He’d grab one or three and place them on the table before going back to the shelves, Mabel’s curiosity took thrall and she stood up to nose through the covers and titles of the books he had grabbed, “More on Egyptian mythology, Gods and Goddesses, I swear you’ve read all about it, you probably know more about it than historians by now-Hindu Mythology too?? Dip, what’s going on,”.

Dipper waved her off as he continued to scan the titles of the books, “Can’t I just learn about stuff?”

“I haven’t seen you read this much into something completely random than when you were crushing hard on Wendy, reading up on werewolves and all that junk, haha,” she laughed as she flipped through more of the books stacked up, all about gods and mythology of various countries, ethnicities, religions.

The younger twin’s ears dipped back in embarrassment, swallowing the urge to quickly stomp his foot and yell that he didn’t, instead he cleared his throat and spoke calmly, “I simply like to know about the historical background of people that I like, alright is that so wrong of me?”

“So you’re doing some sort of weird research on someone~~?” Mabel closed the book, leaning across the table top on her palms.

“No!” Dipper was quick to deny it, ears perking up quickly as he whipped around to see the inquisitive look on his siblings face. He grabbed the books and held them close to his chest, the front side facing him and away from Mabel, “Come on let’s just go, alright.”

* * *

 

Mabel was laying awkwardly, her hind legs up on her bed while the rest of her body was slumped on the wooden floor of their makeshift bedroom, a large coloring book along with a rainbow of colored pencils in her arm’s reach. Dipper was huddled in the corner of his bed and wall, nose buried in his book. He had taken some colored paper and covered the cover from his sibling to avoid her curious questions as to why he was reading something of the topic. He peered over to look at her, chewing the lining of his mouth as he debated whether or not it was worth asking her what had been bugging him. He couldn’t quite ask the person he was questioning about…

“So, Mabel, I, umm… Have a question…”

“I might have an answer, what’s on your mind? Is it how amazing I am at coloring Crystal Queen Cadence?” She looked at her work with a happy sigh, “It’s a talent, I don’t know if I could show you though, took me years of coloring books to get where I am today.”

“No, I don’t care about that,” Dipper rolled his eyes and set his book down on the bed, lacing his fingers together and twirling his thumbs as he spoke quietly, “What, so like, where do you think, history wise or whatever, do you think Bill comes from…?”

“What?” Mabel looked up at her sibling with a questioning expression on her face, “What do you mean?”

“Like, I’ve always wondered that but I thought it’d be rude to ask and all, but like is he Egyptian, because you know he did have a lot of influence there, or is h-“

“Why can’t you just ask him? I don’t think he’d really mind, I mean he’d probably laugh and understand, say something about not knowing as much as him and curiosity and all that weird junk,” Mabel started to collect her pencils and place them back in the sticker collaged case before standing up.

“Maybe, but it’d be embarrassing…”

She stared at her brother, eyes narrowed and studying his face. Taking note of how his ears laid back, the faint worrying of his lip, and the nervous thumb twirling while avoiding eye contact. Her ears perked up as she placed where before she had seen him act like this before, a wide open mouth smile stretched across her freckled face, “Do you… Like him?”

Dipper’s eyes widened in defensive disbelief, staring over at her with his ears standing in defense, “What? No, I don’t. He’s Bill, you know the one tha-“

“You’re acting just like you did with Wendy!! Oh my God!” She tossed her pencil case carelessly onto her bed and rushed over to Dipper’s bed, pouncing on the mattress before crawling over to the corner with a wide smile, “Do you? It all makes sense now, oh my God!”

“Mabel could you just be quiet for once,” Dipper slapped his hands over her mouth with a scowl, his expression softened a bit though as he thought about her question though. He stared back at her before sighing. This was his sister, sure she may be loud, and the occasionally obnoxious sibling, but she knew him and could read him obviously. Always wanting to make sure he was happy. He lowered his hands from her mouth, thinking about the demon in question and trying to bite back a smile, “Okay… Maybe I do alright…”

“Is he’s the one you’ve been going on mystery hunts with? Is that why you don’t want me to tag along? Get some alone time with him~?? Hmmm~??” She gave him a humorous dorky smile as she leaned closer in question, “Have you told him~??”

Dipper laughed and pushed her away, running his hands through his dark hair and nervously toying with the short strands as he answered her, “Okay yeah, he’s been showing me some cool stuff around here... But no, I haven’t told him… I’m not even sure if he knows, he probably does and all but he hasn’t said anything… I just, I don’t think I’m gonna tell him th-“

“Dipper!! No way, you’ve gotta tell him!” She grabbed his shoulders and looked at him with wide eyed, “He obviously likes you enough to spend time with you, and you know how he is anyway. That’s kinda rare with him. Besides, if you don’t tell him how will you know how he feels about you? I mean, I told Pacifica and now look at us! Three years going on strong!!”

“Yeah well you and she are different…” Dipper pushed his siblings hands away from him so he could slump back against the wall, ears falling back again as he thought in worry, “I just don’t want the same thing with Wendy to repeat itself… He already thinks humans, mortals, whatever he even considers us to be, as weird… I don’t want him thinking as me individually weird…”

Mabel snorted, crossing her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall herself, “Dipper, you’re already weird. Everyone knows it.”

“Yeah, well I don’t care too much if they think so or not,” Dipper smiled a little, looking over at Mabel who was still watching him.

She spoke up with a soft laugh, “A demon… Huh. Alright, Bro, you gotta tell me, alright? Since when did you start hanging out and falling for he who shall not be named?”

* * *

 

Bill was on his knees, focused on a small bush that was armed with sharp thorns, the demon wore a predatory smile as he watched the ground before pouncing at the shrew when the rodent tried to run passed him. Standing up off the dirt he cackled loudly, holding the animal firmly in his palm and only allowing its head to be visible, “Now, show me that snout.”

His smile widened as he watched its nose wiggle, its small eyes glassy and scared, “Hey, Pine Tree, check this out.”

Dipper’s ears flickered up in alert from the other’s words, standing up from where he crouched and taking careful strides towards him, “What do you wanna show me?”

“It’s a shrew!” He shoved the rodent into his face.

“Wait, we have those here?” Dipper questioned, taking a step back to fully examine what Bill was holding, looking from it to his face as he spoke.

“Yeah! They’re so weird looking, just like you!” Dipper rolled his eyes as he went silent, the demon catching on and stopping his laughter before pulling his hand away and scoffing with a laugh, “Psh, geez don’t take it to heart, it was just a joke. Don’t cry about it.”

He didn’t answer, watching as Bill dropped the animal back to the forest floor and rubbing his hands on his waistcoat. Dipper’s expression was blank, his thoughts were a constant debate ever since he ran into Bill that day, having not seen him in a week. Mabel’s words echoed through his head before he swallowed, taking the beginnings of a nervous step forwards before firmly stepping back.

He sighed and rubbed his upper arm, “So, you know we always just hang around in the forest. Well, do we even hang out? You just show me weird things, pretty sure to try and freak me out…”

“Where are you going with this,” It wasn’t really a question, or if it was it wasn’t spoken with an upturned ending.

“Well I was just, you know since you’re showing me all this weird, magical stuff,” Dipper took a deep breath, ears twitching back, “I could. No, no. We, I mean, could just try and take a day off and maybe go do something… Normal?”

The demon’s eyes narrowed, his third eye semi-opened as he examined the cervitaur with a weary but curious look, an audible debate over his offer with a hum. Dipper felt himself shake a little in the beginnings of nervous anxiety.

“Normal,” finally Bill spoke up after what felt like decades spent trying to swim through molasses, “by human standards, I assume. Because everything we’ve been doing so far seems, pretty normal to me, well rather mundane but…”

“Look, if you don’t want to that’s fine.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, alright fine, whatever, yeah we can,” he waved the mortal off as he answered with a shrug, turning to leisurely walk to find some other woodland inhabitant to torment to some degree.

“Wait, really?” Dipper’s ears flickered up in surprise, honestly not truly expecting Bill to agree, or even take the questioning offer seriously.

“Yes, really,” he spoke over his shoulder, “When do you want to do this, weird humanly activity?”

“Um,” Dipper couldn’t help but smile widely, thanking absentmindedly that the demon had his back turned to him, he stared at his hands as he fidgeted with his hands, “Well, I’d have to see, just, um, tomorrow, tomorrow is fine. Not today, I mean we’re already doing something today. Well, what are you exactly doing?”

“Creature hunting.”

“Right, right,” Dipper breathed a heavy laugh, “Yeah, you’re busy today so I should probably go plan for tomorrow, no not plan I mean, you know, figure something out, you probably don’t wanna hang around the Mystery Shack or whatever.”

Bill looked over his shoulder watching the younger as he rambled, reading his movements and slowly blinking till he was met with wide hazel eyes and flickered back ears, “Yeah, that sounds fine. Just, give me a call when you’re done with whatever planning you have, Pine Tree.”

Dipper stared at him, his tongue catching in his throat as he carefully nodded, turning on his hooves and walking back the way he had originally came, looking over his shoulder and waving gingerly. Once he was out of sight, or rather Bill was from him, he quickened his pace into an outright darting run. Nervously laughing to himself, his laughter turning into excitement.

* * *

 

“Mabel!” Dipper grabbed his sibling by her shoulders after he ran through the bedroom door, a wide smile on his face accompanied by a flushed face and heavy breathes, “Mabel! Mabel!”

“Dipper?”

“Mabel~!!!”

“Dipper.”

“Oh my God,” Dipper squealed happily, letting go of his confused sister, “it was in a spur of the moment, I just, I wasn’t thinking and I just asked! And he said yes, he agreed!”

“Wait, who agreed? Agreed to what?” Mabel couldn’t help but smile at his excitement.

“Bill! I asked him to hang out and he said yes!”

“So you finally listened to your big sister, huh?” Mabel’s smile widened as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders, “Asked him out, and what do you know, he agreed!”

“No, no I didn’t ask him out, well I did, but he doesn’t know it like that, he thinks we’re doing some weird human thing, just hanging out, but I sorta did ask him out, in my own way, “Dipper nervously ducked his head into his chest, ears lying flat as he smiled widely again.

“Wait, so what are you two gonna do then?”

Oh no, she shouldn’t have said that. Or maybe she should have, Dipper hadn’t even thought of that, worry overtaking him as quickly as she spoke those words, “Oh no… Oh no, oh no, Mabel I have no idea! I’m-I just asked him I didn’t think he was going to say yes! There’s nothing to do! I’m a boring person! I’m so stupid…!”

“Dipper no! You’re not stupid!” She grabbed his shoulders and looked at him, “You’re not stupid at all, alright let me think for a moment…” She looked around in thought before a lightbulb flickered in her head, “The county fair!”

“What?”

“You can take him to the county fair! I got two tickets for me and Pacifica, but you can take them! The fair has been here for a few days already and runs till Sunday!” She beamed happily at her sibling, squealing as she let him go to run over to her dresser.

“Mabel, no I can’t take your tickets,” Dipper held his hands out in decline, “I’d feel bad and you wanted to take her to the fair, I’ll figure something ou-“

“Nonsense!” She turned on her hooves, holding the two tickets up proudly before slapping them down in the air in front of the other, “This is a romantic emergency! Mine and Pacifica’s fate is seal, yours and Bills is, well, another story! Take them!”

He stared at her wide eyed for a moment before a nervous thankful smile tugged at his lips, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace, “Oh Mabel! Thank you thank you!”

“Oh bro, it’s what I do!” She smiled, hugging him back tightly as she squealed some more, “I can’t believe it! You and Bill, ahahahhaaha~!!! You two!!!”

The two let go of each other, Dipper taking the two tickets and holding them close to his chest. He smiled over at his sister, and she smiled back at him, “Seriously Mabel… Thank you for helping me out with this.”

* * *

 

Dipper pulled down his shirt for the umpteenth time that morning, looking at himself in the mirror to make sure everything was fine. Clean shirt? Check. Make sure there’s nothing wrong with his shirt? Check. Brushed his teeth? Check. Brushed his hair? Check. Make sure there was nothing on his face? Check. His vest was on alright, nothing wrong with it? Check. Got the tickets? Check, check, check, and check!

He flickered his tail quickly in excitement, swallowing down his nervous anxiety with words of encouragement left to him by his sister. He was just about to run over to one of the journals to flip through the pages and find the one on yours truly, but when Dipper turned on his feet to prance down the hallway and into his room he nearly jumped from the unexpected surprise.

“Bill!” His eyes were wide and his ears perked up in surprise.

The demon was laying on the cervitaur’s bed, lazily reading the book he had left on his desk before he looked up to see him, “I was wondering when you’d get back.”

“How- so uhm, how long have you, good weather right?” He stumbled over his words in an embarrassing manner, his ears fell back flat as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Bill looked at him with confusion before he sat up on the bed, closing the book and setting it down, “I’m doing well, the weather is clouded but it’s still nice, and I’ve been here for only a few minutes.”

He opened his eyes in relief to hear that despite the horrendous jumble of words the demon still knew what he was trying to say, granted even he himself didn’t know what he was going to say. He walked carefully into his room, a nervous smile on his face as he looked the other over.

“Ummm, you know, we’re going to be outside, don’t you want to change into something comfortable?” He asked quietly, staring up at the other as he stared down at him.

“We’re almost always outside and I’ve never had any problems before with what I’m wearing,” Bill looked at himself in the mirror, over his waistcoat and slacks before looking back at Dipper, “Why? Is there something wrong with how I’m dressed? You’ve never truly said anything before.”

“No!” Dipper took a step forwards, holding his arms out, “No, no you look fine! You look great actually. I just thought you know we’re going somewhere that’s really relaxed and I thought oh hey hahaha you might actually perhaps maybe wanna just wear relaxed stuff you know if you’d like, nobody else would be like that and it’s kinda weird seeing someone all dressed up like how you are at one of those events so you know, it’d draw unneeded attention to us and I don’t really want that cause you know me hahaha I don’t really like too much attention and all that cause you know really all those theories and stuff how when you know you just know you’re being watched by a large crowd you’re just bound to mess up and embarrass yourself and I ju-“

Bill cut off his rambling, “Pine Tree, do you want for me to change, yes or no?”

Dipper’s ears were flat as he swallowed nervously, his eyes were wide as he stared up at him, “Y-yes… Please…”

A sense of relief washed over him as he heard Bill laugh, ruffling his hair, “Alright, well, I don’t actually really own very casual stuff…”

“C-could you maybe, I could help you out and stuff, see what you have?”

Bill pulled his hand away from him and took a step back, wearily looking at the younger, “No, you can’t… My mindscape is personal place, Kid…”

Dipper’s stomach dropped, okay maybe this was a really dumb idea he shouldn’t have done this, this is just ridiculous. “I-I’m sorry, sorry I didn’t know… I’m sorry…”

“Look, Kid, you’re fine, just help me out here, what have you got?” Bill ran his fingers through Dipper hair as he walked passed him over to the closet, opening the door and looking over the contents of the small storage space.

“I don’t think you can fit into anything I have...”

“We’ll see,” Bill crouched down as he hummed, “Pants, you have any pants?”

Dipper awkwardly shuffled, tugging the hem of his shirt down in embarrassment, “I don’t… I don’t wear pants…”

“Hahaha~~~,” Bill looked over his shoulder with a wide grin, “I know, I just wanted you to admit that~!!!”

His ears perked up before laying back flat again, Dipper glaring in embarrassment as he frowned, “Shut up, okay? Oh my God, you are so immature... Stay here, I’ll go find something.”

Bill smiled widely and clicked his tongue, watching the cervitaur leave the room.

Dipper returned after so long, Bill wasn’t keeping track seeing how he had went back to reading the book and zoned out. Dipper tossed the clothes onto his bed and went to the door, his hand on the handle, “Alright, just, try those on, okay?”

“Aye-aye~!!”

Bill waited until Dipper closed the door behind him, sitting up and getting off the bed he carefully began removing his clothes. Folding them neatly on the bed until he was in just his slacks for now. Grabbing the flannel shirt off the bed and holding it up with a curious expression, shrugging before completely unbuttoned it and put it on, buttoning it completely up and fixing the collar. Carefully taking his shoes off and removing his slacks to put on the jeans.

“Alright, well,” Dipper perked up when he heard the door to his room open, Bill stepping out with an odd expression on his face, “I don’t know what for shoes, but I suppose if this is what you’re fine with, then alright.”

Dipper sighed in relief over how… Normal, the other looked. Reaching his hand out momentarily to grab his before dropping it, “Yeah, shoes, right downstairs they’re just sneakers…”

“Where did you even get all this stuff?” Bill couldn’t help but laugh as he followed the other downstairs.

Dipper’s voice came out in a soft mumble, “Wendy…”

The demon simply hummed a laugh at the reply, sitting on the bottom step as he tied the shoes on. Dipper fumbled with the zipper of his vest as he waited for him to stand back up. Once he did he stretched himself out with a smile, dropping his hands to his sides.

“So, Dippin’ Dot, what have you in store for today?” He smiled widely down at the younger.

Dipper stared up at him for a moment before clearing his throat and leading the way out the front door, “Well, it’s a bit of a surprise, something we’ve never done before! Just follow me, if you will.”

He heard him laugh behind him, “Sure thing.”

The cervitaur led the way out of the shack and down the walkway, nervously tapping his index fingers together as he trotted along- Oh God, this was it, this was actually happening! He couldn’t help the happy smile appearing on his face and the calm knowing that Bill was behind me and couldn’t see. Bill hummed to himself and followed leisurely, easily keeping up with his long strides. While he noticed the lack of verbal conversation he narrowed his pale eyes at the other. They walked side by side down the sidewalk when Bill spoke up.

“So, where are we going?” he looked down at the other.

Dipper playfully rolled his eyes, “I told you, it’s a surprise!”

“Okay, well how long?”

“Well,” he cleared his throat a bit, “I can’t actually drive so we’ll have to walk, or ride the bus… But you don’t seem much of a bus kind of guy.”

Bill hummed a sigh before he smile, “That’s true. But I’m not much of a walking man either”

Dipper raised an eyebrow at the other when he saw that smile. A smile he’s come to know that it meant Bill was planning on doing something- what it was he dreaded to find out most of the time. Before he could say anything or even question Bill hopped onto his back, Dipper letting out a drowned ‘what?’ until he huffed and flickered his ears. The demon chuckled a bit and leaned heavily against the other’s back, resting his chin at his shoulders as he stared at the mortal’s expression. Dipper carefully bit down on the tip of his tongue and stared straight ahead. He could feel the man’s breath against his neck. Jesus Christ this demon had no sense of personal space. The closeness made him worry about everything, how loud he was breathing or how to breathe, how he was holding his ears, where exactly to look. He worried heavily on how to even walk and the thought of tripping over his own four legs made his stomach knot.

Not sure with what to do with his hands he simple laced them together and twirled his thumbs as he walked, “So! Um, you wanted to know where we’re going, right?”

“You said it was a surprise,” Bill spoke as he continued to watch the other through his lashes.

“Maybe, but I’ll tell you,” Dipper tried his best not to swallow his nervous anxiety while he gave a small smile, “It’s, well, we’re going to the county fair..!”

“We haven’t done that, have we?”

“Nope, that’s why I thought that ‘hey, Bill doesn’t do much human things so why not take him out to the county fair!’ haha, well, I mean, like not take you out, I mean we’re just hanging out and doing something together that’s- I mean, doing something that’s not wandering through the woods and same old stuff,” Dipper began to ramble nervously, “Not that I don’t like hanging out with you and wandering! That’s not what I mean at all!”

Bill hummed, “The fair sounds nice, I haven’t been to one in a long while.”

“You’ve been before…?” Dipper looked at him as best he could.

“Yeah, decades ago, 19-something I can’t recall the specifics, didn’t even have a Ferris Wheel,” Bill answered him with a hum, “Well, not a _good_ one at least.”

Dipper whispered a nearly inaudible ‘oh’ as he continued to walk, he chewed on his lip as he listened to the other’s absentminded humming. His mocha gaze flickered to a bus stop sign before he asked, “Do you think we could ride the bus..?”

“If you wish.”

* * *

 

The bus ride made the trip to the fair shorter thankfully, Bill humming along for a little bit until people began to get a little too close to him for comfort. Dipper would hear him stop and occasionally growl as he’d pull himself closer to the deer, recoiling to himself as if he were afraid of being touched in the slightest. Dipper carried him out and off the bus on his back before he hummed as cheerfully as he could.

“Ta-daa~! The county fair,” he smiled at Bill.

His smile dropped a bit when he noticed the bored expression on the demon’s face. Bill simply clicked his tongue and climbed off of him. He shoved his hands into his not-quite-his pockets and took a few steps forwards. When he noticed Dipper wasn’t following he looked over his shoulder at him, “Aren’t you coming? I mean, it was your idea and you have the tickets. You _do_ have the tickets, right?”

Dipper looked up at him, “Yeah! Yeah, I do, don’t worry.”

Bill began walking and Dipper stared after him. His ears tilted back a bit as he felt his heart sink. Maybe… Maybe this wasn’t the best of ideas. Maybe he should just call it off, tell Bill never mind, tell him it was a dumb idea, tell him he didn’t have to do this. Tell him he didn’t feel good and they could go back home and never bring this up again. He hadn’t realized he had squeezed his eyes shut until he felt a hand at his wrist and he opened his eyes to look up at the demon. He didn’t say anything, instead he tugged him along to the front entrance.

“You got your tickets?” the man in the booth looked from Bill, who looked down to Dipper.

The cervitaur dug around in his vest pocket and felt a sense of panic when he only grasped at lint and an old gum wrapper. And yet, there was a sense of relief. That he could bail out. Bill shifted his weight and crossed his arms over his chest, “Check your other pocket perhaps.”

“O-oh, right,” the tone the demon had seemed to hit him in the face like a slap, and he felt like an utter dolt. Of course, check both pockets… He reached into the other and felt the two glossy cardstock tickets and pulled them out, handing them to the man in the ticket booth who took his hole puncher and punched each ticket once before waving them off.

Dipper pulled Bill aside and out of the way to hand him a ticket of his own and watched him eye it before shoving it into a pocket. Dipper chewed on his lip – now what?

“S-so,” he cleared his throat and straightened his posture to give off the illusion of confidence, “So! You said you haven’t been to a county fair in how long again?”

“Decades, before the great war, I think it was,” Bill’s voice trailed off in thought, “1904.”

 Dipper laughed nervously, “How old are you again?”

Bill stared at him with a blank expression, “My age is just a concept just as time is an illusion.”

He laughed awkwardly before he grabbed at Bill’s hand, “Right, well! If you haven’t been to a fair in over a century, let’s not waste any time then!”

Dipper led them up and down the stands off random stales, looking up at him as he wore a blank expression he couldn’t quite read. He inwardly sighed. They haven’t even been here for twenty minutes and he already deeply regret taking him here. This was dumb. Why did he think this was a good idea, why did he listen to his sister? He felt like crying, he felt his eyes burn already and the knot in his throat choke him.

“What,” Bill spoke with an interested tone, “Is that?”

Dipper looked up to see him staring wide eyed at one of the game stands, “That’s just one of the conning scheme of a game they have here, they’ve got so many it’s hard to keep track.”

“No, nonononononono,” Bill waved him off with his free hand and began to tug him over to the booth, pointing up at one of the prizes. It was what looked like a bear, they had bunnies as well, with its face pulled back and showing the animal’s skull. It had an upside down heart for a nose and a toothy hollow grin and long softly sewn claws on each four paws, “What is that!”

“Why that young man is one of the prizes here at my little stand,” the man running the specific booth waltz over to them and leaned against the cheap wooden countertop, a shark like grin on his face below his dark mustache.

“Can I have it? Can I have the black one, or maybe the purple one?” Bill asked with wide eyes, Dipper looked up at him.

The man laughed, “Sure! You can have it, if you win it!”

Bill’s face fell to an annoyed expression as he bit the bait, “How do I win it.”

“There are five jugs here,” oh no… “for five dollars you get three baseballs to try and knock them down,” oh no oh no oh no oh no… “you knock ‘em all down in one shot, all on the ground, and I’ll give you the prize! Easy as that!”

Dipper hadn’t noticed how hard he was squeezing Bill’s hand as memories resurfaced from summers ago. The exact same game, and exact same mistake. Bill looked at him eagerly, “You have five bucks?”

He looked up at Bill with wide mocha eyes to meet childish and excited envious blue ones, stupidly he reached into his pocket, “y-yeah!”

He fumbled with his wallet, Bill letting go of his hand as he rocked back and forth on his heels. Dipper handed the five dollars to the man who stashed it safe and handed him the baseballs, he took a glance from Dipper to Bill and back to Dipper, “Why don’t you take the first shot here, for your friend.”

Dipper’s ears were ringing so loud he couldn’t truly register anything. If Bill wanted the dumb stuffed animal, then he would get it, right? He swallowed and grabbed a baseball in his right hand and brought it back over his shoulder and threw it. It missed miserably and he could feel the embarrassment flooding his face. Okay, he had two more shots. Okay, yeah! He exhaled again, looking up at Bill who was still staring down at him with a soft smile. He looked back to the man and then the podium in which the milk cans stood proudly and mocking him. He grabbed another and threw it. His eyes widened as his heart sunk into the pit of his stomach. The heavy ball hit the lip of the podium and bounced back with just as much force as Dipper threw it with. The buck squeaked and covered his face while his ears ducked back.

“Ya’alright there?” the man’s voice cut in, and Dipper fearfully peaked through his fingers up at Bill.

The demon had brought his hand up in perfect reflux and grasped the ball before it had the chance to slam into his face. Dipper’s hands dropped as he began to spit and apology, “Oh my God Bill, I am so sorry I didn’t mean for that, I didn’t think it’d happen- not again at least. Seriously, I had no intensions-“

“Pine Tree, allow me to try this silly game, alright?” Bill tossed the ball in the air and gripped it tightly as it fell back into his hand.

The man walked over to pick up one of the cans that fell to set it back, Bill smiling to himself as he drew it back and threw as hard as he could. The ball hit the man in the back of the head and caused him to stumble forwards. In the moment it took for him to register what had happened Bill smiled wickedly as he reached up and yanked one of the stuffed animals down and grabbed Dipper’s hand to make their escape. Either nobody saw or they were too shocked to say anything as they ran through the cluster of a crowd and down the stalls until they reached the end of the specific aisle. Dipper stared wide eyed over his shoulder the entire time as he stared up at Bill. The demon had a happy smile on his face as he admired his ‘prize’.

“BILL!” Dipper gasped, taking in deep breaths, “What the hell!?”

“Oh! Look at him! I’m naming him Jeremy!” Bill sung as he hugged the stuffed animal closely to his chest.

“You could’ve really hurt that guy! And we might get thrown out now thanks to you!”

Bill looked at him with a childlike confusion, “Isn’t that how you beat the games though? Isn’t that the trick? I know! I’ll win you something too! Come on, let’s find something you’d like!”

He grabbed his hand in his own again and led them down the farthest aisle from the one they were at, Dipper worrying his lip as he looked over his shoulder to see if anyone were following them. When Bill stopped at a simple game of ring-toss he smiled at Dipper.

“I know~! Let’s win you a lamb,” his smile turned Cheshire, “-y lamby.”

“Bill I swear to God.”

The demon continued to whisper in a playful tune, “Who wants a lamby lamby? I do, I do~.”

Dipper buried his burning face into his hands as Bill hummed the ridiculous tune happily, taking note of how the buck was acting, “Hey, come on, it’s cute!”

“It’s not cute, it’s utterly embarrassing and I want to destroy every memory of that…”

“No can do, Pine Tree,” Bill leaned and elbow on his shoulder, “See, I’m a demon of the mind, all memories are linked back to me where I keep ‘em, you can block them out and erase them all you want but I got the carbon copy all the time. Nothing is ever forgotten.”

Dipper was about to make some witty retort before the sweet lady that helped run the stand spoke up, “Hey you two, having a great day? Welcome to the ducky-ring-toss!”

“Having a wonderful time,” Bill spoke cheerfully and made Dipper’s heart swell, “How many ‘points’ do I need to get that little lamb right there?”

“That little guy is five points, toss a ring and get it on the duck, and the number on the duck is the amount of points you got. We add ‘em up and you walk away with a prize! Even without any points you’ll still get a piece of candy or a sticker!”

Bill smiled down at Dipper, the younger looked up at him with a worried smile, “No cheating this time…?”

“Oh come on! Five points is totally easy! I got this! Look, there are eight year olds walking out with prizes that I’m sure are more than five points,” Bill held his hand out for Dipper’s wallet, “I got this.”

Fifteen bucks later and a mouthful of obscenities mother’s had to cover their children’s ears for and Bill was right. He did had this. Walking proudly away as he handed Dipper his Lamb.

“You know, I could’ve probably just went to the store and got a lamb just like this for cheaper,” Dipper smiled as he looked it over.

Bill scoffed and reached for the lamb, “Don’t want it? Fine, I’ll take it, shows how much you appreciate my efforts.”

“Nnnnope!” Dipper laughed as he held the stuffed animal away from him, tucking it under his vest as he held it close. Bill watched with a small smile of his own as they walked through the sea of people.

They found themselves wandering down the stands of snacks and food, the smell of fresh and overpriced popcorn and cotton candy teased their noses as they walked on. Dipper looked around looking for some place that had something he could eat or even munch on until he heard Bill squeal excitedly.

“What?”

“Dippin’ dot, Dippin’ dotz?!” Bill smiled widely at him as he pointed over to an ice cream stand, the brightly colored and pictured menu standing out along with what the demon was squealing about.

“Oh my God…” Dipper mumbled as Bill tugged them over.

“What _are_ these?” he ogled over them small plastic bowls that contained the hundreds of beads of ice cream, the woman watching him carefully as he examined them.

“They’re just ice cream drops, frozen and junk, really they’re no different than ice cream,” Dipper explained, “You really didn’t know these were a thing? I thought you knew since you always called me that…”

“Pssh, Dipper, I sat up one day just playing with names to call you,” Bill rolled his eyes playfully as he grabbed the buck’s wallet again, “Dipper nipper, dipper dopper, _bipper_ bopper, Dipdop.”

The demon went on and Dipper looked through the flavors of ice cream they offered in the dotz before picking one and paying for both his and Bills, listening to him go on and on and on. They wandered around as they ate the dotz of ice cream, noticeably Bill’s excitement faded when Dipper was in fact right over it just being plain ol’ ice cream. But he still enjoyed it nonetheless. At some point the man climbed onto his back and sat along as they chatted, staring over the rides and curiosities. They ended up spending a good chunk of time at the fair. But just as they had figured they’d done as much as they could something echoed back in Dipper’s memories. A smile tugged at his lips as he pranced over to the large Ferris Wheel smack in the center of the lot.

“Where we heading now?” Bill as leaning against his shoulder.

“Well, you said the last fair you went to didn’t have a Ferris wheel, so…” he smiled when he heard Bill emit a tiny gasp.

Dipper wasn’t the best with heights but he assumed he did just as well as everyone else did with them. He was petrified of them per say. But the closer they approached the wheel the smaller his smile became. The wider Bill’s became. They stood in the long line and Dipper couldn’t stop staring at it, his neck craning back with wide eyes.

Bill happily spoke, “Have you ever been on one of these? I have, once, over 120 years ago! One of the first ones they had! They’re so much fun, you can see so far, you get so _high up!”_ he giggled, “Well, this one is way bigger than the ones before, I bet they still consider this to be tiny by today’s standards!”

“Yeah….” Dipper whispered, it wasn’t much of a reply.

He swallowed down every step he took as they reached the front of the line. He could do this, he could totally do this. It was like, what, five minutes? Ten? Twenty..? Half an hour? And hour? What if they got stuck? What if something happened and one of the beams loosened? What if they fell? Oh God he felt sick as his mind raced with possibilities that went as far as the near impossible. The line was long, it felt like days they were stuck in it. Bill stood next to him happily as they waited. The closer they got the more his knees shook and his skin felt sticky and sweaty under the beaming sun, and yet he hard prominent goosebumps rising over his chilled skin. He felt cold, he needed a jacket. He looked up to see the five people in front of him, the five mere people that separated him and that death trap. Four now… Two now. He couldn’t even swallow right as his insides twisted and churned, knotting together in a mess of anxiety.

“Watch your step.”

Why is that man staring at him? Wait, is he- was he talking to him. Shit, he was. His teeth clattered, his body shaking widely as if he were shivering cold. But he wasn’t. He was sweating.

“Hey, Dip-“

“I can’t do this!!” Dipper’s voice shook and flattened as he hiccupped, pupils blown as he slipped under the rope that guided the line to dart off. He felt as if he were going to throw up. He slapped his hands over his mouth, still clutching at the lamb.

Bill followed him, hot on his heels. Dipper jumped slightly as his ears flickered, “Hey, are you alright?”

Dipper didn’t look at him. His eyebrows knitted together and he refused to remove his hands, voice muffled as he whispered, “I want to go home…”

* * *

 

The bus ride back to Gravity Falls was spent in silence between the two, Dipper staring at the ground while Bill stood next to him. Once they got off Dipper continued to hang his head as he began to slowly step down the pavement towards the Mystery Shack. But Bill reached out and grabbed his bicep.

“Hey, look, surprisingly I have some money of my own,” Bill’s voice was abnormally soft as he spoke, “Could I buy you like, a coffee or something?”

“I thought you were strictly against caffeine? You say it interferes with your work,” Dipper tried to chuckle a small laugh while he nodded.

He allowed Bill to lead him into the greasy old diner. He held the door open for him as he slowly stepped inside. His hooves seemed to echo loudly on the tile as he walked all the way down to the corner booth. His head still hung low.

“Oh hi Dipper!” Susan called out happily from behind the counter, “I’ll be with you in just a moment!”

Dipper crawled into the booth and Bill sat on the opposite side from him, setting ‘Jeremy’ next to him. They sat in silence. Susan came and took their so-called order. It was just a coffee for Dipper. Once it was set down in front of him Susan stepped away to return to her own little world. Dipper had on elbow on the table as he cradled his mouth in his palm, staring at the sugar packets.

Finally he spoke quietly, “Bill… I’m sorry I ruined our day today.”

“What do you mean?” the older questioned as equally quiet.

“You-“ Dipper sighed, he felt the emotion welling in his chest and tears pricking his eyes already, “I know doing human things is boring to you, and the one thing you seemed truly excited about… We couldn’t even do. I’m sorry… I tried really hard, but I still couldn’t do it. This entire idea was dumb, and I’m sorry I dragged you through it all…”

“Dipper… I didn’t think it was dumb, I had a lot of fun,” Dipper’s eyes flickered over to meet Bill’s before he lower his gaze, “Who cares about one dumb ride? Really, who cares? I wanna meet them. If I didn’t want to go on this date with you I would’ve said no.”

Dipper’s eyes widened at the word, ears raising a bit, “Date…? I, I never said it was a date…”

Bill looked at him with a gentle gaze, reaching a hand across the table to rub at Dipper’s arm, “Dipper… You, you forget who I am- what I am. I’m an all knowing demon, and of the mind too. You act like just because I’m focused on something else that I can’t hear what’s going on in your head. What you’re thinking.”

“S-so… So you knew…?” Dipper’s face was bleeding a faint pink beneath his light freckles as he looked up at Bill, his hand felt warm against his arm, “The entire time you knew?”

“I knew from day one, and I just never said anything because I wanted you to bring it up,” Bill gave him a small smile, “I kept waiting and waiting for you to say something. That’s why I kept tagging along with you on the little escapades through the forests. And when you finally did, I was… Happy.”

“You _knew_ this entire time?” Dipper stared at him with wide eyes, warm tears running down his cheeks as he buried his face in his hands, ears flattened down, “Y-you knew, and he-ere I wa-as freaking out, worrying so m-much over this, and yo-you already kn-ew. You- you knew your ans-swe-er and you ne-ever said anyting to me-e? Yo-you’re such a je-erk!”

“Dipper why are you crying! Don’t cry!” Bill leaned over the table, eyes widened with concern and worry and confusion.

“You shou-should know why i-I’m crying,” Dipper sniffed quietly, doing his best not to draw attention to himself in the small nearly empty diner.

“You’re right, you’re right! I do know, and I know I’m a jerk, I just didn’t want to interfere with your emotions and things and- I’m sorry!”

Dipper sighed heavily, raking his fingers through his hair as he sniffed again. He looked up at Bill through his damp lashes, “You’re such a jerk, for a number of reasons… I don’t even know why I love you…”

“True, true, I am an asshole, we can both agree on that,” Bill sighed a laugh, “And while admittedly I don’t know why you love me, I do know something.”

“What…?” Dipper asked, lifting his head and rubbing his palm against his cheek.

“I know that I love you too.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I like to headcanon this is how they get together in the canon-verse too, really any AU   
> I feel as though a weight has been lifted from my chest and can rest in pieces. ;o; This has been on my computer since June. Of last year. I wanted to finish it. I wanted to get it off my damn hard drive. -slam dunks it into the trash because this is trash-
> 
> Ahhh, this sucks. And i didn't proof read it much if at all, so point out the mistakes and grammar and i'll fix them ASAP
> 
> Comment/Bookmark/Kudos/Etc~!!


End file.
